In memory of Angel Val del Olmo (1923 – 2004)

With great sadness we have just learned of the sudden death of comrade Angel Val Mendizabal at the age of 81. The father of a remarkable family of revolutionaries, Angel was a proletarian class fighter all his life.

With great sadness we have just learned of the sudden death of comrade Angel
Val Mendizabal at the age of 81. The father of a remarkable family of
revolutionaries, Angel was a proletarian class fighter all his life. From very
early on in his life, in the dark years of the Franco dictatorship, he worked on
the production line in the metal industry. These were years of bitter class
struggle, in which the workers were denied even the most elementary rights to
belong to a real union, strike or demonstrate.

The brutality of the dictatorship fell with special force on the workers of
the Basque country. I remember a conversation I had with the late Pat Wall,
before he became a Marxist parliamentarian at Westminster. He worked as a buyer
and on one occasion this took him to Vitoria, in the Basque Country. He told me
that in all his experience he never saw such bitterness and smouldering
hostility as when he visited the factories of Vitoria in the early 1970s. "You
could sense that it was going to explode." And it did.

The period after Franco's death (November 1975) was very stormy. The workers
rose up against the regime. There were many strikes, general strikes,
assassinations and street battles, culminating in the great strike in Vitoria in
the spring of 1976. In an attempt to buy off Angel, the management promoted him
to the position of foreman, but this manoeuvre was not successful. He accepted
the job but remained an active trade unionist. He collected union dues in the factories, going from one
machine to another. In 1976 he went out on strike
with the rest of his class. One of his sons, Arturo Val del Olmo, of the UGT,
was one of the leaders of that historic strike, which ended in the massacre of
the 3rd of March.

The Vitoria strike was an impressive demonstration of the power of
the working class under the most difficult conditions. The town was
completely
occupied by armed police. Because they lacked legal unions, the workers
established representative commissions, which were soviets in all but
name. I
attended one of the meetings of the Victoria soviet, which was quite
extraordinary. It was held in the church of St. Francis – it was normal
in
those days because the churches were about the only big buildings that
were open
to the workers. The church was packed, but there was absolute
discipline: nobody
interrupted the speakers, and the speeches were on a very high level.
Women also
participated - housewives expressing support for their men. I remember
one said:
"if my children have to eat only bread for six months, we will support
this
strike."

The decisive day was March 3rd, 1976. Groups of workers massed from the
factories in the early hours of the morning and marched to the town centre. The
police were everywhere, so the workers resorted to "guerrilla
tactics". One minute, the street would be empty, but you could see groups
of workers gathered on street corners. Then someone would whistle and they would
all rush into the road, blocking it with their bodies. After some time the
police sirens would be heard and the workers would dissolve into thin air. The
uniformed thugs would arrive to find the enemy gone.

That day showed the true fighting spirit of the workers of Vitoria. But it
ended in a massacre. In the evening, a large number of people gathered again in
the church of St. Francis. There were several thousand men, women and children,
and old people. The armed police surrounded the church and threw smoke bombs
through the windows. Panic ensued. The people poured through the doors gasping
for breath. Then the police opened fire with automatic weapons. Six people were
killed and many others wounded.

This was a turning point because it frightened the ruling class into making
concessions which led to what they call "the transition" - a botched
affair that established a so-called "democracy" - complete with
un-elected monarchy. None of the murderers and torturers of the old regime were
ever punished. In effect, the workers were cheated of the victory they so richly
deserved through the cowardice and treachery of their leaders, who compromised
with the regime.

In the years that followed the revolutionary impetus was lost. Many left the
movement, disgusted by the betrayals of the leaders, demoralised, or just worn
out. That was the fate even of people who played a leading role in the fight
against Franco. The following years were characterised by a mood of despair,
scepticism, cynicism and apostasy. It was hard to fight against the current, but
some did. And among them was Angle Val del Olmo and his faithful companion and
comrade Txari.

If there is one thing that distinguishes a real proletarian from a
superficial middle class element it is this: that the proletarian has the
necessary staying-power, that inner strength that comes from class
consciousness, that stubborn obstinacy (and there are no more obstinate people
in the world than the Val del Olmo family!) that defies all the odds, that rises
above all difficulties and continues to fight, come what may. Angel remained
loyal to the movement. He was not affected by the general decline, but was always
present – cheerful, optimistic, and always talkative. How Angel could talk!
The ideas and thoughts came tumbling out of him like a torrent, expressing that
tremendous enthusiasm and inner vitality that seemed never to be exhausted.

I remember very well how Angel and Txari would always be present at every
meeting. They were absolutely incombustible in their dedication to the cause of
the working class and socialism. Angel had a strong character – something he
has passed on to his children. The most striking thing about him was his
constant and unquenchable enthusiasm. This always made him appear much younger
than his years. Some young people seem to become prematurely aged, but Angel was
eternally youthful – he carried his youth in his heart. But his youthful sense
of optimism did not come from the clouds. It was the product of his profound
belief in the justness of the cause to which he had dedicated his life.

Angel was that very special kind of proletarian – a self-educated worker.
His lively mind was restless and enquiring to the end. He did not read books –
he devoured them. They were bread to him. On his bedside when he died was a copy
of Bolshevism, the Road to Revolution. He was reading it for the second
time. This enthusiasm for theory and the ideas of Marxism was undoubtedly a
major factor that kept his batteries running, while many others dropped out,
exhausted.

Angel's life, like that of all working class people, was not free from
personal tragedy. His wife and inseparable companion, Txari, died ten years ago.
An even harder blow was the tragic death of his youngest son, Mikel Val del Olmo,
like himself a dedicated revolutionary and a leader of the Marxist tendency, El
Militante in Bilbao. But nothing could destroy that great spirit or
eradicate that eternal optimism but death itself.

Unlike his sons, Arturo, Eloy and Mikel, Angel was not a leader. His role was
different. It was the role of so many good workers, who are content to support
the movement quietly and anonymously. He is one of those countless nameless
proletarians who have added their grain to the mountain. Out of innumerable
small grains a mighty structure is erected, and that structure is destined to
change the world.

Angel Val Mendizabal is no more, but his memory and life's work lives on in
and through each of us. We can take some comfort that when the end finally came
it was swift and painless. Angel did not have to endure years of confinement in
a wheel chair. He retained all his faculties, and his mind was as alert as ever.
Angel Val Mendizabal died as he had lived, a proletarian revolutionist. He kept
his belief in socialism and the final victory of the working class to the very
end.

We extend our condolences to Angel's family and in particular his sons,
Arturo and Eloy and their families, his daughter Maribi and daughter-in-law
Mabel.